New
information
BGD 001 / 0813 / OBS 074.8
Judicial harassment
Bangladesh
January 13, 2017
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH,
requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.
New information:


The Observatory has been informed with great concern
about further acts of judicial harassment against Messrs. Adilur
Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin
Elan, respectively Secretary and Director of the human rights non-governmental
organisation Odhikar, in a
further attempt to sanction and silence their human rights activities[1].
According to the information received, on January 9,
2017, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, presided
over by Justice M. Enayetur Rahim, dismissed the appeal filed by Messrs. Adilur Rahman Khan, also a member
of OMCT General Assembly and FIDH Vice-President, and ASM Nasiruddin Elan,
aiming to contest the charges framed against them under Section 57 of the
Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT Act) 2006, in relation to a
fact-finding report issued by Odhikar on the killing of civilians by security
forces in May 2013. The High Court further decided to
lift a stay order which
the Supreme Court had granted to the two defenders in January 2014, and directed the Cyber
Crimes Tribunal to proceed with their prosecution (see background information).
On January
10, 2017, the lawyers of the two defenders filed an appeal challenging the High
Court's judgement and order dated January 9, 2017 before the Appellate Division
of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. In the afternoon, the Chamber Judge of the
Appellate Division stayed the High Court’s judgment and order for four weeks,
in order to give time to both parties to prepare for the case.
The
Observatory condemns the ongoing judicial harassment of Messrs. Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan, which seems only to be aimed at
sanctioning their legitimate human rights activities, and urges the
authorities to put an immediate end to it.
Background information:
Odhikar has
been under extreme pressure since August 2013, when the authorities arrested
Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan on
trumped up charges in relation
to a fact-finding report issued by Odhikar on the killing of civilians by
security forces in May 2013.
Following this publication, Messrs. Rahman Khan and Elan
were arbitrarily detained in 2013 for respectively 62 and 25 days until they
were both released on bail. On January 21, 2014, the High
Court Division of the Supreme Court granted a stay of the trial in the Cyber
Crimes Tribunal. The stay order was subsequently challenged by the Attorney
General’s Office in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
On March 21,
2016, the Appellate Division ordered that the hearing on the stay order was to
commence as early as possible before the High Court Division.
On January 3
and 4, 2017, a hearing took place in two parts before a High Court Bench
comprised of Justice M. Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim.
Since 2013,
attacks and harassment against Odhikar have been ongoing, including judicial
harassment against both Messrs. Adilur
Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan,
as well as the surveillance and repression of Odhikar, its staff,
and their relatives.
Odhikar is
also facing great difficulties to implement its activities, since its registration
has not been renewed by the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) of the Government of Bangladesh
and is still pending though all the required documents were submitted on
time. All of its bank accounts have been frozen and it has been
forbidden from receiving foreign funding.
In addition, on August 2, 2015, the Media and Public
Relations wing of the Police Headquarters in Dhaka issued a statement
condemning newspaper reports on extrajudicial killings, which cited Odhikar and
BAMAK, another NGO, and declared that the statements made by the two
organisations “contravene the existing laws of Bangladesh, which is synonymous
to challenging Rule of Law and the judicial system”. The Police Press Release
further stated that questioning the activities of the police threatens the
reputation of the police and amounts to defamation and a criminal act, and may
be considered as a subversive activity[2].
Please write to the authorities in Bangladesh, urging
them to:
i.
Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of
Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan and Mr. Nasiruddin
Elan, as well as of all human rights defenders in Bangladesh;
ii. Put an
end to any kind of harassment - including at the judicial level - against Mr.
Adilur Rahman Khan and Mr. Nasiruddin
Elan, as well as all human rights defenders in Bangladesh;
iii. Ensure
in all circumstances that Odhikar as well as all human rights defenders in
Bangladesh are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any
hindrance and fear of reprisals;
iv. Withdraw
the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities)
Regulation Act, 2016;
v. Conform
with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by
the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Articles 1 and 12.2;
vi. Ensure
in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in
accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments
ratified by Bangladesh.
Addresses:
· Ms.
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2
8113243, Email: pm@pmo.gov.bd
· Professor
Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Adviser to the Prime Minister (International Affairs),
Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2 9111312 Email: advinternational@pmo.gov.bd
· Mr.
Asaduzzaman Khan, State Minister for Home Affairs of Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2
9515541. Email: stateminister@mha.gov.bd
· Mr.
Anisul Huq, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of
Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2 7168557. Email: minoflaw@law.com
· Md.
Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. Fax: +880
2 9562188. Email: fm@mofa.gov.bd
·
Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Chief
Justice, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Fax: +880 2 956 5058 /+880 2 7161344,
E-mail: chief@bdcom.com or supremec@bdcom.com
· Mr.
Mahbubey Alam, Attorney General for Bangladesh, Email: adv_mahbubey@yahoo.com
· H.E.
Mr. Abdul Hannan, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of
Bangladesh to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 46 16,
E-mail: mission.bangladesh@ties.itu.int
· Embassy
of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 646 59
98; Email: bdootbrussels@skynet.be
Please also write to the diplomatic missions or
embassies of Bangladesh in your respective country as well as to the EU
diplomatic missions or embassies in Bangladesh.
***
Geneva-Paris, January 13, 2017
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the
code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
(the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or
remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH
are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European
Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil
society.
[1] Odhikar
is a prominent human rights NGO that since its inception in 1994 has been
showing its commitments towards the universality of human rights. Activities of
Odhikar include reporting, advocacy and fact-finding activities on violations
considered “sensitive” - such as disappearances, torture, political violence,
etc.
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